Venus Williams Details Decades Of Suffering After Doctors Dismissed Her Symptoms

Tennis icon Venus Williams has revealed her long struggle with fibroids and the medical challenges she faced in getting an accurate diagnosis.

In a new interview, Venus Williams opened up about her years of suffering, which she claims were dismissed by doctors as "normal" period symptoms, leaving her "outraged" at the lack of proper care.

The seven-time Grand Slam champion detailed the painful experience of living with fibroids, noncancerous growths that develop in the muscular wall of the uterus, throughout her tennis career.

Williams, now 45, told NBC News that as her menstrual cramps intensified, causing severe nausea and excessive bleeding, doctors consistently misdiagnosed her symptoms as merely part of her regular period cycle.

"It just got too bad, and I couldn’t handle it," Williams confessed. "As bad as things were for me, crazy amounts of bleeding like you couldn’t imagine… my doctors told me it was normal. I never realized anything was wrong."

Despite her obvious symptoms, including persistent anemia from heavy periods that led to repeated iron transfusions, medical professionals failed to fully address or explain the underlying cause, leaving Venus Williams in the dark about her condition.

"I'm sharing now because I was outraged that I didn’t know this was possible. I didn’t know what was wrong with me," she said. "No one should have to go through this."

For years, Williams continued to compete at the highest level of tennis while suffering in silence. The painful symptoms not only affected her physically but also took a toll on her energy, leaving her frequently feeling drained during matches.

"I thought maybe it was autoimmune anemia," she explained, as she had previously suspected she might be dealing with Sjogren's syndrome, an autoimmune condition that causes fatigue, muscle pain, and trouble swallowing.

However, it wasn’t until later that she discovered the true cause of her ailments: fibroids, coupled with a condition called adenomyosis, which also affects the uterus.

Williams revealed that she often wore multiple layers of clothing to hide the bleeding and once became so ill during Wimbledon 2016 that she couldn’t eat, lying on the locker room floor in agony before Serena Williams and the doctor were able to intervene.

"Thank God Serena got the doctor... and I was able to get up and eat and start playing, bad luck for the opponents," she recalled.

Despite experiencing these challenges, when Williams turned 37, a doctor dismissed her symptoms as “part of aging,” without suggesting the possibility of fibroids.

She was told that her condition was just a natural part of getting older and wasn’t informed about the severity or size of her fibroids, which were being monitored via ultrasounds but not discussed in detail with her.

"I didn’t know that they were really big," she admitted. "I didn’t know that they were growing and growing and growing."

One doctor even made a flippant comment about her symptoms being “natural birth control,” which deeply troubled Williams. "I had no idea what that meant. No one explained it to me," she said, adding that looking back, it was no laughing matter, especially as it affected her ability to have children if she chose to.

Eventually, after consulting with several doctors, Williams was advised to undergo a myomectomy, a surgical procedure that removes fibroids.

Initially hesitant, Williams was convinced by Dr. Taraneh Shirazian, who believed the procedure would improve her condition.

"She told me, 'I’ve seen a dozen other doctors. No one has recommended surgery. Why are you recommending surgery?'" Dr. Shirazian recalled. "I said, 'Well, because I know it will make you better.'"

Williams, who had access to the best healthcare throughout her career, emphasized that women, particularly those with fibroid disease, often don’t receive the proper care they deserve.

"Women do not get the care that they need for fibroid disease," she said. "To me, that’s the part that we should all be thinking about. World-class athlete, superstar. Has access to every doctor, every facility, every option. She went to so many other people before she got care."

Williams’s story sheds light on a widespread issue in women's healthcare, particularly for those suffering from fibroids, and calls for better awareness and treatment options for women everywhere. Through her openness, she hopes to raise awareness of the condition and inspire women to seek proper care, no matter their status or profession.